Three Indiana Pacers deny they assaulted a Westside bar manager early Tuesday morning. The three under investigation by police are Jamaal Tinsley, Marquis Daniels and Keith McLeod.

Police are investigating allegations that Indiana Pacer Jamaal Tinsley and two teammates assaulted a bar manager. Tinsley, Marquis Daniels and Keith McLeod deny they were in a fight. - MATT DIAL / The Star

Players respond

Jamaal Tinsley:
"I'm upset that I could be involved in something like this. I had nothing to do with it."

Marquis Daniels:
"I'm very disappointed my name is being brought up in a situation I am 100 percent sure I had nothing to do with. For me to be brought up is very disappointing when I am totally innocent. Hopefully the truth will come out of it.

Keith McLeod:
"I didn't see those guys hit anybody. It got started by somebody else. We were trying to get out of that place. I guess that's when the whole scuffle started. We heard somebody was in there trying to steal coats. Everybody had their stuff already. We were trying to get out of there. I don't know how all that other stuff came about."

According to a police report, the three were in the 8 Seconds Saloon, 111 N. Lynhurst Dr. at 2:15 a.m. when they got into a scrap with the bar’s manager, Mark Nicholson. The fight followed the Pacers' Monday night loss to the Golden State Warriors.
When police arrived at the scene, Tinsley and Daniels had left. McLeod and Jeremy King, who is McLeod’s cousin from Toledo, were still at the scene. “They were trying to find Mr. King’s tooth,” said IMPD spokesman Doug Scheffel.

There were no arrests, but the case has been assigned to a IMPD detective, Scheffel said. “He’ll be talking to witnesses and his report will be presented to the prosecutor” whose decision it is whether to press charges. Scheffel said the investigation would take “several days or a week” and that the case is “not being treated any differently” just because it involves professional athletes.

According to police, the trouble began with a fight between several bar employees and a person who was trying to steal patrons’ coats. The would-be thief escaped, but not before the disturbance spilled over into where the Pacers were sitting.

“Some words were exchanged” between bar management and the Pacers, said IMPD spokesman Doug Scheffel. Nicholson, told police “that Mr. Tinsley, with a closed fist, struck him on the left side of the head, knocking him to his knees. He stated at that time Mr. Daniels and Mr. King also began to use closed fists, striking him in the face. He stated he was unable to defend himself.”

Two unidentified witnesses “felt that the life of the (bar’s manager) was in danger,” according to the police report, and said they helped pull Tinsley and Daniels from the victim.

The three Pacers told The Star they are innocent.

“I'm upset that I could be involved in something like this. I had nothing to do with it,” Tinsley said.

McLeod said someone else started a fight.

“We were trying to get out of that place,” McLeod said. “I guess that's when the whole scuffle started. We heard somebody was in there trying to steal coats. Everybody had their stuff already. We were trying to get out of there. I don't know how all that other stuff came about."

Witnesses told police Tinsley may have suffered a cut on the forehead and that King had lost a tooth.

The police report does not say if anyone involved in the fracas was taken to the hospital.

McLeod joined the Pacers Jan. 17 in a trade with Golden State.

Tinsley and Daniels were two of the Pacers at a Westside strip club Oct. 6 during a fight with several other men.

One of them, Deon Willlford, 23, accused of trying to run over ex-Pacer Stephen Jackson with his car, appeared in Marion Superior Court this morning for a pre-trial hearing. Jackson also had a hearing, but he was not there because of a trade last month to the Golden State Warriors.

Both are charged in an October melee outside Club Rio on West 38th Street that included several Pacers players. Jackson shot a handgun and kicked a disabled man during the fight, police said, and Willford is accused of trying to run over Jackson with his car.

Judge Patricia Gifford scheduled Jackson's trial April 12. He will be in Indianapolis on Monday to testify against Willford, deputy prosecutor David Wyser said.

The Pacers lost to 113-98 to the Golden State Warriors at Conseco Fieldhouse Monday night when Jackson scored a season-high 36 points.

Pacers’ CEO issued a statement saying the team would not comment.

“We are aware of reports of an incident Monday night after the Golden State game allegedly involving members of the Indiana Pacers. At this time, the incident is under police investigation and until the investigation is completed, we have no further comment,” the statement said.

Darrell Armstrong, a Pacer point guard: “Any time we go out, things can pop off at any moment. As players, we have to be a little more smarter, not only my teammates, myself included. You are in spots that can cause some drama. You never know what might happen. Every time we go somewhere, we try to go out and have a good time, and things happen.”

By time Pacers let media into the routine morning shoot-around, most of the players had already left the practice court. Tinsley, Daniels and McLeod had left and weren’t available for comment.